Former Leipzig GC Relocates to Cologne

February 25th, 2008, 18:46

Avantenor writes in to tell us the results of a press conference regarding the future of the former Liepzig Games Convention. This event, a consumer showcase for the European game industry, will now move to Cologne and be known as the GAMESCom. The date of the conference will change from August to September.
This post at Eurogamer gives the rationale behind the move:

The new event, GAMESCom, will begin in September 2009 and enjoy considerably better travel access and accommodation resources than its Leipzig counterpart.
German TV station RTL and the World Cyber Games are based in Cologne as well, with both said to be playing a key role in the new event.

I don´t know if I should be happy or feel sad. Yes, Cologne is much easier to reach, but the Leipzig Convention Center was brand new and the GC was their flagship product. The GC Leipzig was great and they had every reason to further improve it. Messe Köln is more established. It´s just one more blocked space in the calender for them.

On the other side I feel kind of uneasy that the folks over there in Leipzig lose such a great attraction - I believe that the GC was quite good for Leipzig's economy, although I don't have an idea how much. Hotel space, for example, plus food.

I also heard that Leipzig wants to still continue making a similar "convention" or even the GC itself.

-- “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Originally Posted by Avantenor
At least 2h less travelling. Maybe it's not fair, but from an egoistic point of view it's much better for me than Leipzig. I never really liked the exhibition area.

Travelling doesn´t make that much of a difference for me. Maybe 1 hour, but by car, not by train, which is an obvious disadvantage. But the huge plus is that I can sleep in Düsseldorf for free.

I was at Messe Köln once. I don´t even remember the convention center, which probably means it´s completely average.
Leipzig on the other hand was very comfortable I think, at least for those they accepted as press.

A small addendum to the newsbit:
The GC 2008 will take place as planned in late August.

Same here. I feel sorry for Leipzig to lose such a great annual gig but on the other hand I now have only about 30mins for travelling and not a couple of hours. Plus no hotel costs. I'll definitely check it out next year.

lef

Since I live near Cologne, I'm glad they moved - but I already explained that above.

-- “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)